Actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix hopes his movie career will become insignificant as he becomes the new Eminem. The star recently announced his plans to quit acting and concentrate on making music, and, despite criticism and claims his news is just a hoax, Phoenix insists he's deadly serious about never appearing before the cameras again.

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He tells WENN his rap career "has been brewing for a long time" and he has flirted with the idea of quitting acting.

But, learning to play the guitar for Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line was the catalyst Phoenix needed to give up his movie career.

He explains, "I've always loved music and never really played anything, and, after 'Walk The Line,' I kind of learned to play guitar and having that sense of performing, that certainly opened the door for me for music. I think now I would just like the music to speak for itself. I don't think we'll ever get to the reason, 'Oh, that's why he quit and this is why he's doing this.' I don't fully understand it myself. I've always followed my heart and felt what was true at the time and that's what I'm doing now. I'm not out to sell records. I'm experiencing something and it's what I feel. I feel like everything in my life is leading up to this and suddenly acting doesn't seem like that's a big part of what was important in my life. I imagine, when I look back on my life, acting will be just a very small portion of something that I did, and I think music will be the dominant theme in my life."

Bearded Phoenix admits he was taken aback by the fuss his decision to quit acting caused: "I didn't know that anyone was gonna care. I felt that it was an obligation to tell my fans what I was doing, moving in another direction."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)